GoKawiilFrom assembling microdevices to probing single cells, the ability to manipulate matter at the microscale is essential across biology, medicine and microengineering. Yet researchers have faced a persistent trade-off: optical tweezers, which use light beams to manipulate objects, offer exquisite precision but are limited to very small forces, whereas mechanical microgrippers provide strength but lack finesse and are challenging to miniaturize. Writing in Nature, Pan et al.1 report a striking solution: a 3D mechanical microgripper that is operated using light signals from an optical fibre.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01703-5
References Pan, D. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10673-7 (2026). Zong, Y. et al. Adv. Mater. 37, 2418316 (2025). Barbot, A., Power, M., Seichepine, F. & Yang, G-Z. Sci. Adv. 6, eaba5660 (2020). Zmyślony, M. et al. Adv. Mater. 32, 2002779 (2020). Gissibl, T., Thiele, S., Herkommer, A & Giessen, H. Nature Photonics 10, 554 (2016). Download references
Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests.
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